Hesiod described a pithos, a large ancient Greek storage vessel, in the story later known as Pandora’s Box.
A pithos was a substantial ceramic container used in the ancient Greek world for storing commodities such as grain, olive oil, or wine. In Works and Days, Hesiod uses the word pithos when describing the vessel Pandora opens. The object is therefore closer to a large jar or storage container than to a modern hinged box.
The phrase “Pandora’s Box” became standard in later European tradition. A Latin translation used the word pyxis, which can mean a box or small container, helping shift the object’s image in Western languages. That translation history explains why modern readers often picture a wooden box even though the earliest literary account describes a jar.
The distinction matters because the vessel belongs to the practical material culture of ancient Greece. It also helps separate the original myth from later artistic conventions. Paintings, books, films, and games may show a decorated box, but the oldest surviving account uses the image of a pithos.